SHIFTING SANDS
If God is truly the product of Anselm's ontological pontifications, it's highly doubtful he's changed much through the epochs of time. Having said that, does that mean our understandings of him can't, hasn't, or shouldn't evolve? Even though church doctrine may appear quite stable from the vantage point of a single human lifespan, it's consistently adapted itself across culture throughout its history. It's problematic to claim that our current understanding is the only objective truth because doing so unavoidably condemns the framework of religious heritage that brought us to this very place. To maintain such a stance is tantamount to saying that the church itself did not exist until my particular sect came into being some time during the so-called Age of Reason. Doctrines, creeds, and traditions change over time - sometimes by sweeping, even violent, revisions and rifts. Unfortunately, the world never runs out of fools ready to pronounce that we've finally arrived at ultimate truth.
Christians have always been our own worst enemies. From the time Constantine legitimized the religion, Christianity has evolved around a never-ending carousel of men wrestling other men for the power and control endemic of any imperialistic institution. Perhaps God's hand was in this as well; it is very hard to say for sure, but here we are.
When I look back at how our faith has changed over the millennia, I must confront the fact that there's no one right way to do religion. A person must listen for the voice of God in her own day and age. The world changes and the things we need from religion change alongside it. The contemporary faith we espouse is quite different from the Christianity of the early church, the Dark Ages, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and even that of our parents. I am convinced, then, that God's revelation can rise and thus far has risen to meet the needs of people in all times and places in increasingly creative ways.
Personally, I've come to believe God desires a relationship with those eager to reciprocate, rather than droves of automatons who believe they can make him happy by following a set of requirements. I was born into a faith tradition heavily influenced by human reason, and I refuse to make an idol of it. I approach God naked, without pretense or anxiety, for I seek him with a pure heart. Love closes the distance between human and divine, something law can never do. I will instead follow his lead without fear of where it might take me. People can make of it what they will.